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Superior man will pedal 216 miles in honor of nephew with rare condition

By Kimberli Turner

For Hometown Weekly

Posted:
07/16/2014 09:23:35 AM MDT

Updated:
07/16/2014 09:26:47 AM MDT

Paul Zahradka

Paul Zahradka has a passion for road biking, but this weekend's ride is not for himself. But for his 9-year-old nephew, Gavin Clark.

Superior resident Zahradka will make a 216-mile trek on behalf of Gavin during the 25th annual Courage Classic.

Gavin has Shone's complex, a rare congenital heart condition in which a combination of four heart defects are present and commonly affect the left side of the heart.

"It's a very rare heart disease," said Annie Clark, Gavin's mother. "Children's Hospital told us he was the 51st baby diagnosed with Shone's complex and he's had two open heart surgeries because of it."

The Courage Classic is an annual benefit bike ride headquartered out of Copper Mountain that raises money for Children's Hospital Colorado. The multi-route course winds through Summit, Eagle and Lake counties.

This year's ride, Saturday through Monday, July 19-21, will mark the fourth year Zahradka has participated and he always rides in Gavin's name with Team Brocade, the technology company he works for in Broomfield. There are family and regular routes offered, and he and his team have chosen to ride the extended routes, pitting them against 216 miles.

Thirteen people will ride with Team Brocade and, according to the team's fundraising page, they've raised $6,265 for the cause.

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A total of $1.6 million has been raised this year for the Courage Classic, with a goal of raising $2.8 million, according to the benefit's website.

"It's a way of honoring Gavin. I don't do it for any other reason than to personally honor him and his struggle," Zahradka said. "It's a quiet way to reflect on Gavin and his situation. There's a lot of time in the saddle to sit and think."

Gavin Clark

Gavin was born at Rose Medical Center, but was flown to Children's Hospital in Denver when he stopped breathing during birth. Annie Clark said everything seemed fine during her pregnancy and a fetal echocardiogram, a scan of the baby's heart, came back normal.

He had his first open heart surgery when he was three days old, and his second surgery when he was 2 years old.

Because of Shone's, Gavin weighs only 40 pounds and the energetic boy has to be careful about his daily activities, Annie Clark said. He is allowed to play sports as long as he wears a chest protector and rests in between.

She said Gavin was naturally athletic and attracted to sports at an early age — he began bouncing the basketball at age 2 — and it's hard to get Gavin to slow down because he has so much energy.

At 5, he was the youngest child to go through a stress test at Children's, Annie Clark said. At that time, Gavin was approved to play basketball for four minutes at a time, after doctors had him run on a tiny treadmill and ride a tiny bike at the medical center.

Zahradka said Gavin's resiliency is inspiring.

"Kids have a different way of looking at illness. Adults are weighed down by that. Gavin doesn't let it get in the way and then he's on to the next thing he enjoys," he said. "He just takes a moment, takes a breath and moves on."

Zahradka said the most touching part of the Courage Classic is at the finish line when children give riders medals for completing the course.

He said "a cool sense of camaraderie" is created at the finish because all of the cyclists have struggled through the mountain passes by choice on behalf of the kids of Children's Hospital, and those children — who have struggled due to illness — are cheering at the end saying thank you.

When Annie Clark and her husband, Michael, asked doctors about Gavin's prognosis as an adult, they were told Shone's is so rare there is not much data on the condition and no patient with it has lived past their 20s.

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